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The Charters of Freedom: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights

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The Charters of Freedom: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights The Charters of Freedom: The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights The simple truth at the heart of the American Revolution is that people are born with certain natural rights, including “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” These and other rights of the American people are secured by this nation’s founding documents, known collectively as the Charters of Freedom: the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. The documents reproduced in this exhibition chronicle the creation of the Charters and their impact on events in this country and around the world. They reveal the story of earlier generations of Americans who had both the vision to see a better world and the audacity to build it. “Chartering Freedom” is an exhibition featuring reproductions of the Charters of Freedom and other milestone documents that chronicle the conception, creation, and implementation of the Founding Fathers’ vision. The challenge facing Americans was to translate the guiding spirit of the Revolution— beliefs in political self-determination and personal liberty—into a viable, durable scheme of government. • The Declaration announced to the world in 1776, that 13 British colonies in North America were leaving Great Britain. In justifying revolution, it gave voice to the ancient longing of the human soul—for freedom. • The Constitution, drafted in 1787 after a hard-won victory in the War for Independence, codified the spirit of the Revolution into an ingenious practical scheme of government to promote the welfare of its citizens. • The Bill of Rights, added to the Constitution in 1791 as the first 10 amendments, explicitly protected freedom of speech, of the press, of religion, and of assembly, among many other freedoms. These documents represent a monumental achievement of the nation’s Founders, who believed their cause held the promise of liberty for all mankind. The principles established in the Charters have bound the nation together through more than two centuries of growth and turmoil. Teacher resources for this exhibit include lesson plans, glossary, and the texts of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights. Educational material reproduced here with the permission of the National Archives Traveling Exhibits Service. Western Heritage Museum & Lea County Cowboy Hall of Fame 1 Charters of Freedom Exhibit June 2018 Education Department – Teacher Resource Lesson Plan 1 – Declaration of Independence Grade Level: Middle School To Sign or Not to Sign Focusing on Details: Discussion Topic Students will consider the arguments made by members of the Continental Congress regarding whether or not to sign the Declaration of Independence. They will also have the opportunity to analyze each section of the Declaration to understand its meaning and consider the consequences of signing the document. • Thinking Skill: Historical Issues−Analysis & Decision-Making • Bloom’s Taxonomy: Evaluating Suggested Teaching Instructions Grades 6-8 Use this activity in the middle of a unit on the American Revolution when introducing the reasons for and against signing the Declaration of Independence and the immediate and long-term consequences of the members of the Second Continental Congress’ decision to sign the Declaration of Independence. Analyze the document and ask students to respond to the questions (in the Activity Section). Provide them with an opportunity to share their answers, listing reasons for their decisions. A few delegates who voted for adoption of the Declaration on July 4th never signed it. Non-signers included John Dickinson (Pennsylvania), who clung to the idea of reconciliation with Britain, and Robert R. Livingston (New York), who thought the Declaration, was premature. ACTIVITY In this activity you will consider the arguments made by members of the Second Continental Congress regarding whether or not to sign the Declaration of Independence. 1. Imagine that you are a member of the “Committee of Five”* tasked with writing the Declaration of Independence. What is going through your mind as you draft this document? 2. Eventually 56 delegates from 13 states signed the Declaration, but a few of the delegates who had voted for independence decided not to sign it. What objections do you think they might have had? 3. If you were a member of the Second Continental Congress, would you have signed? Why or why not? Remember the risks and the benefits! * John Adams, Massachusetts; Thomas Jefferson, Virginia; Benjamin Franklin, Pennsylvania; Roger Sherman, Connecticut; Robert R. Livingston, New York Western Heritage Museum & Lea County Cowboy Hall of Fame 2 Charters of Freedom Exhibit June 2018 Education Department – Teacher Resource Note: The following text is a transcription of the Stone Engraving of the parchment Declaration of Independence (the document on display in the Rotunda at the National Archives Museum.) The spelling and punctuation reflects the original. Text of the Declaration of Independence In Congress: July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, −That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. Western Heritage Museum & Lea County Cowboy Hall of Fame 3 Charters of Freedom Exhibit June 2018 Education Department – Teacher Resource He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers. He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance. He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power. Western Heritage Museum & Lea County Cowboy Hall of Fame 4 Charters of Freedom Exhibit June 2018 Education Department – Teacher Resource He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged
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